E.C.O. Reminder

 We have E.C.O. tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.  Please help your child bring appropriate clothing and footwear for spending the afternoon outdoors.  Last time, a few students were getting chilly by the end of the lesson.

Students should have:

• a jacket or coat
• gloves or mittens
• a hat
• warm socks
• boots

Students may also want to wear layers and bring rain pants or even snow pants to help them stay warm and dry since there is rain in the forecast.

Thanks for your help!

E.C.O.: The Track of the Cat

On Tuesday afternoon, we divided into two groups at E.C.O. time to explore the characteristics of two different groups of cats: bobcats and house cats.  Each group had a time to practice acting like either a bobcat or a house cat and learning a "rock, paper, scissors" game to win a mouse or a piece of string. 

Each group also took a turn being biologists visiting the other group and observing their behaviors.  Later, students had the option of writing their E.C.O. journal entry from the point of view of a biologist describing the similarities and differences between each group.

In our discussions, we talked about adaptations, inherited traits, and learned behaviors that connected with our learning about cats.

See if you can guess which group is featured in each set of photos!  Ask your child about the characteristics of each cat group. 

Group One:

Group Two:

Forest Choice Time:

Students found a group of moths on the leaves near their sit spots. 
Can you spot the camouflaged moths in this photo? 

School Store and Lunch Menu

Since we are experiencing problems with the EMES website, I will post information on this blog as often as possible.

School Store:

The EMES Student Leadership Team (SLT) sponsored school store will be open for the first time, this Friday, November 20th.  The store will be open in the cafeteria from 8:30-9:00 a.m.  Store items include pencils, pens, highlighters, notepads, erasers, and pencil sharpeners.  Items generally range in price from $0.25 to $1.00 each.  We are in the beginning stages of getting the store operating after a few years, we hope to be open every other Friday morning. 

Lunch Menu:

Here is a link to the EMES lunch menu. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzvh-sFg6pd4Q0w1N1M2dDhzVWs/view?usp=sharing 

Classroom News: Upcoming Events

I enjoyed meeting with everyone for parent/teacher conferences.  Thank you for coming in to discuss your child's progress. 

Upcoming Events:

The EMES Holiday Feast is this Friday, November 13th.  Family and friends are invited to join us for this special event.  Please sign up in advance.  You can fill out a form or email Susan Olander at solander@u32.org and pay at the door. ($3.25 for students and $5.50 for adults)

Please note that students will be eating in different lunch groups on this day.   

• Seating 1:  Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd Grades:  11:30-12:00
• Seating 2:  3rd and 4th Grades:  12:00-12:30
• Seating 3:  5th and 6th Grades:  12:30-1:00

Pre-school students and parents are welcome at any seating.


Our next E.C.O. lesson will be on Tuesday, November 17th from 12:30 to 2:30 pm.  Please help your child come prepared for an afternoon outdoors in the chillier autumn weather. 

Parents are welcome to join us for any E.C.O. lessons.  Please let me know if you are interested in joining us for a fun, outdoor science lesson.

Classroom News: Arts Integration in Literacy

After completing our movement phrase based on the book, Up North at the Cabin, students selected a favorite sentence to illustrate.  Everyone created colorful pastel drawings that showed the details and descriptions from the book.  Our illustrations are now displayed in our classroom and on our bulletin board in the hallway.